Statement from Democratic Leader Charlie Laster on Governor Henry’s Veto of HB 1975

Oklahoma State Senate

April 30, 2009

For Immediate Release
Contact: Amber England, Democratic Communications Director
Oklahoma State Senate

Statement from Democratic Leader Charlie Laster on Governor Henry’s Veto of HB 1975;

Says the Bill did Nothing but Protect the Powerful Insurance Industry

“We knew in January when Senate Republicans changed the rules to include special protection for one specific industry—the powerful insurance industry—we would be faced with a barrage of bills that would make it harder to make health care more affordable for Oklahoma families.

“House Bill 1975 is just one of many bills Republicans have shoved through the legislative process that would provide cover for insurance companies on the backs of Oklahoma families who are desperate to see the insurance coverage they pay for work for them.

“We are grateful to Governor Henry for vetoing this bill that did nothing more than make it harder for the Oklahoma Legislature to bring true insurance reform to this state.”

Oklahoma State Senate

April 28, 2009

For Immediate Release
Contact: Amber England, Democratic Communications Director
Oklahoma State Senate

Insurance Companies Win Big in Senate GOP’s “First 50 Days”
All the Chest Pounding and “Atta Boys” Can’t Hide GOP Love for Powerful Insurance Industry.

OKLAHOMA CITY—Calling the latest press conference by Senate Republicans nothing but chest pounding and political cover, Democratic Leader Charlie Laster said Oklahomans should be outraged with the outcome of the GOP’s first 50 days.

“The first 50 days of the Senate Republican’s majority has been consumed with stories about tax scandals and a whole lot of love being shown to the powerful insurance industry,” Laster said. “For the past month even newspapers across the state have editorialized about the politics of payback and retaliation that we have seen from the Senate GOP and have mentioned very little, if anything at all, about policies that will help make health care more affordable for Oklahoma families.”

Laster, (D-Shawnee) pointed to the following specific legislation and unprecedented rule changes in the Senate as proof Senate Republicans have been focused solely on protecting insurance companies and engaging in the politics of retaliation instead of focusing on the needs of Oklahoma families.

• A rule change that specifically protects insurance companies in the Senate by requiring Senators to jump through bureaucratic red tape to have a bill heard that would reform the insurance industry.
• Removing Senator Tom Ivester, an Afghan War Veteran, from a task force that studies the education needs of Oklahoma military families days after Coffee called Ivester an “alarmist” for speaking out about possible public prison closings in his district.
• Removing veteran Senators Kenneth Corn, Richard Lerblance and Tom Adelson off committees which they previously chaired, calling them “obstructionists.”
• Refusing to hear legislation that would require insurance companies to cover the diagnosis and treatment of autism, routine medical care for Oklahomans who choose to participate in life-saving clinical trials, the right for injured workers to choose their own doctor and putting doctors, not insurance company executives in charge of patient’s health care needs, giving the Insurance Commissioner the ability to investigate arbitrary rate hikes by insurance companies, and legislation that would have allowed Oklahomans to sue insurance companies for arbitrarily raising insurance rates.
• Failure to meet the “Fund Education First” April 1 deadline, leaving thousands of Oklahoma teachers to wonder if they will have a job next school year.
• Legislation that protects insurance companies and giant corporations by making Oklahomans travel out-of-state to seek justice for negligent acts that caused harm to them.
• Passing legislation that would bring divisive Washington DC style politics into Oklahoma by requiring Worker’s Compensation Judges to be confirmed by the State Senate.

Laster said he is also concerned that with only three weeks left in this legislative session and no budget agreement, a special session could be right around the corner.

“Clearly Senator Coffee has been distracted which has left much of the crucial work of the State Senate still on the table,” Laster said. “It is clear Senate Republicans have very little to crow about this session and are simply pounding their chest to make themselves feel better. I hope for the sake of all Oklahomans, they get serious about governing and find some real solutions for Oklahoma families who desperately need our help, and stop this game of protecting insurance companies and petty partisan retaliation which seems to be the crux of the Senate GOP legislative agenda.”

Senate Democrats try hard line on autism treatment coverage

Democrats try hard line on autism treatment coverage

by Janice Francis-Smith
The Journal Record February 26, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY – No Viagra without autism coverage. That was the new rallying cry taken up by Senate Democrats on Wednesday. Insurance companies that do not offer coverage for treatment of autism spectrum disorders should be prohibited from providing coverage for treatment of erectile dysfunction, said the Democrat leadership in the state Senate.

“We think it’s grossly unfair that insurance companies will cover something like ED but they’re not willing to cover autism treatments,” said Senate Democratic Leader, Sen. Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee.

All 22 Democrat senators signed a Feb. 25 letter asking the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board to prepare a financial impact statement and cost-savings analysis for a proposal to prohibit insurance companies from offering erectile dysfunction benefits without also offering autism benefits.
No legislation has been filed regarding the matter, said Laster, but lawmakers are within their authority to ask for the study.

“You can’t get it if you don’t ask,” said Laster.

The letter also asks the Insurance Board to explain the methodology used to make their determination. Laster said he didn’t know how soon the board would be able to conclude the study.

Laster said Senate Democrats have been informed that many health insurance providers cover erectile dysfunction treatment. National studies published by industry analysts estimated that private employer health plans cover between 40 percent and 70 percent of prescriptions for erectile dysfunction, usually if the ED results from a documented medical condition. In 2005, federal administrators announced the Medicare prescription drug benefit would cover impotence drugs.

Senate Democrats have a press conference planned for Thursday to accuse the Republican majority of “using their new power to protect insurance companies,” according to a media advisory for the event. Though the Republican majority has already defeated legislation to require health insurance companies to cover autism treatments, effectively putting the issue to rest for this year’s session and next year’s as well, Senate Democrats say they plan to use the amendment process to bring insurance reform to a vote on the Senate floor.

Democrats want ED impact statement

Eds: UPDATES with details, quotes, no pickup.

By RON JENKINS

Associated Press Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma Senate Democrats said they are amazed that some insurance companies pay for treating erectile dysfunction, while denying coverage for autism.

All 22 Democrats in the 48-member Senate signed a letter on Wednesday asking for a cost savings analysis in the event lawmakers barred insurance companies from covering ED if they refuse to cover the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.

The letter was sent to Bill W. Crain, administrator of the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board.

"It is our understanding that insurance companies will pay for you to buy Viagra but they won't cover treatment for autism," said Sen. Charles Laster of Shawnee, Democratic minority leader.

"We just think it is bad policy that insurance companies get away with covering such nonessential things as treatment for ED and yet they are being protected for having to provide treatment for autism," he added.

He said he was sure many would argue that ED treatment is not nonessential "but from a public policy standpoint, I think it is pretty minor when compared with the thousands of kids out there with autism."

"It's just a discussion of priorities. Is health coverage for ED more important than coverage for autism?" added Sen. Tom Adelson, D-Tulsa, former state secretary of health.

Bills to require autism coverage have died in House and Senate committees this session after opposition from Republicans who say such mandates will cause insurance rates to increase significantly.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, had no comment on the Democrats' latest tactic to keep the issue alive.

Members of the Democratic caucus plan a press conference Thursday during which they said they would "express frustration over Senate Republicans' disturbing pattern of protecting insurance companies on the backs of Oklahoma's working and middle class."

Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, is the main sponsor of the autism coverage bill that died in committee.

Gumm said he has an amendment planned for a tax bill that would prohibit insurance companies from qualifying for premium tax credits or job creation incentives if they do not cover autism.

He said he has prepared another amendment to require the Oklahoma High Risk Insurance Pool to cover autism.

He said neither proposal would be a mandate on private insurance companies.

Senate Republicans Prove Allegiance to Powerful Insurance Industry "Coffee Can't" Check Partisanship at the Door

January 6, 2009

For Immediate Release

Contact: Amber England

Office: (405)-521-5695

Email: england@oksenate.gov

Senate Republicans Prove Allegiance to Powerful Insurance Industry

"Coffee Can't" Check Partisanship at the Door

OKLAHOMA CITY --In ten separate votes pertaining to the newly adopted Senate Rules, Senate Republicans sent a message loud and clear to the powerful insurance industry today: "Help is on the way"

"We are sorely disappointed the Senate Republicans chose to institutionalize their love for the insurance industry today by adopting rules that protect the fat cats trying to deny Oklahomans the care their doctors say they need and the health coverage they deserve," Democratic Leader Charlie Laster said. "Sadly this is not what we believe Oklahomans bargained for nor do they deserve this sort of unprecedented power grabbing in the name of petty partisan paybacks."

Laster said Coffee spoke about the need for the State Senate to be a place where ideas are treated like seeds, rather than bullets, with the ability to grow and not die. He said he was hopeful Democrats would be successful in eliminating a new rule that would make it virtually impossible for any law requiring insurance companies to act responsibly to be heard in the state senate.

That hope was quickly dashed, Laster said, when Republicans voted in lock step to include in the rules of the State Senate a provision protecting one single industry, the insurance industry, from being held accountable for denying coverage of certain medical procedures such as colorectal screening and coverage for the treatment and diagnosis of Autism and cancer patients choosing to participate in clinical trials.

"I do not believe there is any other legislative chamber in the country that writes into their rules a provision protecting specific industries, much less an industry as powerful as insurance companies," Laster said. "We should be embarrassed that Republicans chose to protect their friends in the insurance industry over the need for Oklahomans to have access to affordable health care."

Laster said he finds it ironic that when Republicans were in the minority they often characterized the Senate as a place where "good bills go to die."

'Today, Republicans certainly made the statement the State Senate will now be a place where discussion about the health care of all Oklahomans will certainly die without debate," he concluded.

GOP uses newly minted power to limit insurance mandates, tax cuts

GOP uses newly minted power to limit insurance mandates, tax cuts
by Janice Francis-Smith
The Journal Record
January 7, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Sen. Glenn Coffee became the first Republican Senate president pro tempore in state history on Tuesday. Little more than an hour later, the new Republican majority used its power to grant special protections for the insurance industry and to establish an unprecedented level of power to the new Senate leadership.

Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, hailed the rules changes as reforms to promote open government. State Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, called the new rules an abomination. The rule change appeared to be an effort to thwart Gumm’s ongoing battle to pass Nick’s Law, which would require private health insurance companies in Oklahoma to cover autism treatment.

The revised rules pushed through by the Republican majority on a party-line vote of 26-22 requires any bill dealing with tax cuts or insurance mandates to be accompanied by an actuarial analysis in order to be heard in committee. The Oklahoma Tax Commission would prepare financial impact verification for tax-cut bills, while the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board or the Oklahoma Health Care Authority would prepare fiscal information for insurance mandates.

However, neither the rules nor state statute compels state agencies to produce the fiscal analysis in a timely manner. If the agencies fail to provide the fiscal analysis in time to meet legislative deadlines, their inaction could kill the bill, said Gumm. Furthermore, the rules require the fiscal impact report be requested by the head of the committee or a designee of the majority floor leader, but not the author of the legislation in question.

State Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, asked the new floor leader, state Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, why the insurance industry was singled out by the new rules. Tax cuts are a function of government, he said, and bills involving a wide range of industries that may have an even greater effect on the state budget were not mentioned in the rules.

“Eighteen percent of Oklahomans are uninsured,” said Lamb. “That’s too high. It’s not a bad policy to take a step back” and carefully consider proposals that would affect the cost of health insurance, Lamb said.

“Just as impact studies are required for any tax increase or reduction, it is only fair that those empowered with mandating consumer expenses know what the impact of their actions will be,” Lamb said later. “We take very seriously the business of expending dollars, be they public or private dollars, and their impact on the people who put us in this position, the citizens of our state.”

Senate Minority Leader Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee, said Tuesday afternoon the rule changes institutionalize what he characterized as Senate Republicans’ love for the insurance industry.
“I do not believe there is any other legislative chamber in the country that writes into their rules a provision protecting specific industries, much less an industry as powerful as insurance companies,” said Laster. “We should be embarrassed that Republicans chose to protect their friends in the insurance industry over the need for Oklahomans to have access to affordable health care.”

Coffee said the rules require lawmakers to file substitute bills earlier in the process, allowing members more time to review proposed changes to legislation. Senators’ votes in committee will for the first time be published in the Senate Journal. The new rules allow the Senate to meet away from the Capitol building in case of a natural disaster or other emergency situation.
State Sen. Susan Paddack, D-Ada, asked members to postpone voting on the rules, which she said were distributed after 4 p.m. on the previous day. The Republican leadership dismissed Paddack’s request and Laster’s proposal to reinstitute the rules as they were in 2005. Laster’s proposal would have subjected the Senate Democrat minority to the same rules that had been imposed on Republicans when the two parties’ positions were reversed.

The rules as adopted Tuesday grant new authority to the presiding officer to allow other senators to speak in the Senate Chamber only after being assured in advance of what that senator plans to do or say once recognized. The rule changes even allow the floor leader to interrupt when another senator has the floor.

Other changes in the rules delete the requirement that bills be considered four times by the Senate, which appears to allow some bills to pass through the chamber just once. No one may distribute information at committee meetings without first getting the chairman’s approval. The secretary of the Senate, former Senate Republican spokesman Paul Zirax, is granted the authority to correct any nonsubstantive errors in language of any bill, provided the changes are printed in the Senate Journal.

While the former rule allows only present and former legislators, governors and lieutenant governors on the floor of the Senate Chamber during session, the rule was changed to allow spouses, children and grandchildren of Senate members on the floor while the Senate’s business is under way. Male members are now required to wear slacks or trousers in addition to the coat and tie required by the former rule.

Senate rule changes due vote

The proposal, to be voted on today, would give control of all committee assignments to Republicans.

By MICK HINTON World Capitol Bureau
Published: 1/6/2009

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Senate's new president pro tem, Glenn Coffee, is proposing Senate rules to be considered Tuesday that would give control of all committee assignments to Republicans.

The proposed rules also contain a requirement that amendments calling for expansion of insurance coverage can be ruled out of order by a committee chairman and not heard by the committee unless they contain a fiscal-impact statement.

This could affect whether the Legislature will be compelled to hear a bill referred to as "Nick's Law," which concerns mandated insurance coverage of autism.

Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, said Monday that the proposed rule changes are among the reforms he announced during the fall election campaign, when he pledged to promote lawsuit, health-care and criminal-justice reform.

"This isn't about personalities; we are trying to bring about reforms," Coffee said.

A power play erupted in December when Sen. Charles Laster, D-Shawnee, leader of the minority Democrats, announced committee assignments. Coffee overruled Laster and changed some of the assignments that same day.

Laster claimed that by tradition, the minority party had always been allowed to make its own assignments.

The proposed rules state that only the president pro tem would make committee assignments.

For the first time in history, both houses of the Legislature are under Republican control.

Senate rule changes must be approved by a majority.

The Senate has 26 Republicans

and 22 Democrats.